Shreyans is a multidisciplinary designer whose work spans from health to technology and human computer interaction. He is equipped with meaningful experience in designing digital interfaces for companies as well as mass users through the App Store.

His undergraduate background in electrical engineering, environmental and space science, has given him an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving. His natural creativeness and desire to apply engineering and science to problems, through user centered design, has drawn him to industrial design.

Shreyans' design process is being shaped by his time at the Rhode Island School of Design where he is pursuing a Masters in Industrial Design.

Designing Ways to Integrate Medicines in People's Daily Lives

tough pills to swallow

Taking pills can be hard, with over half of the medicine consumers in the US failing to adhere to medicine regimens for chronic / longterm ailments (WHO, 2003). Two of the most frequent reasons given are forgetfulness and not seeing a meaningful change in health. Various products have aimed to improve medicine adherence and have had attenuated success. Product reviews and user interviews reveal that existing products aren't consumer centric. They are too small and have to be frequently loaded [with pills] and charged, thereby asking for considerable behavioral change.

Hence, in this project I produced product designs around the consumer's daily routines, to make the process of taking medicines hassle-free and delightful, as opposed to monotonous and menial.

studying user routines

Key insights were gained by talking to medicine consumers about their daily routines. During this user research, three themes emerged. These included people who spend more time indoors, those who are on-the-go, and those who need special care. These three types of user groups have varying needs and interact with their medication differently. But many of the existing medicine adherence products are not mindful of these distinctions and consequently are one type fits all solutions.

Moreover, critical insights about chronic ailments and longterm medicine regimens was acquired. Finally, I uncovered critical points of users' interaction with medicine in order to begin ideating product designs.

current designs

Indoor Dispensers

On-the-Go Bottles

Special Care Devices

Philips

Sabi

AdhereTech

E-pill

Asobu

my Ubox

Unknown

Sabi

MedMinder

market & positioning

market success

positioning

Indoor Dispensers

How to make these better: indoor fitting form, easy to use

On-the-Go Bottles

How to make these better: ultra simple reminder function

Special Care Devices

How to make these better: data analytics to show changes in user health

generating designs

prototyping

design concepts

DRIZZLE

FUNCTIONAn automatic pill dispenser that delightfully releases prescribed medicines, of the right dosage amount at set times, into a glass container. The user would be notified about dosage time not only via sound and light, but also by the amusing noise of pills tumbling into the glass container. Using this product, the user would no longer need to worry about dosage amounts and times, and would simply have to lift the glass to consume the pills.

SYSTEMThe dosage schedule may be synced once using a phone app. Pills may then be loaded in a queue from the top of the conical container. A computer and a dispensing mechanism would then release the right pills at set times. The user may choose to sign-up with their local pharmacy to get prescription pills, packed in the conical container, home-delivered.

FORMIn addition to helping users take their pills, this object hopes to alleviate the stigma surrounding consuming medication by taking pills out of medicine cabinets into an more desireable pill dispenser that better fits in the indoor environment.

Drizzle was made using wood and metal working tools, 3d modeling and printing.

ACTIVE

UNIQUE DESIGNResearch indicated that users fumbled with tiny buttons of digital alarm clocks, and its arcane interaction design. As a result, the familiar analog wristwatch and its crown were referred to while designing this alarm system. Active's three colored crowns operate correspondingly colored hands on its watch face to set three distinct alarm times.

REASONAlthough mobile phones may be used to setup alarms, a dedicated alarm system for pills, that runs on a coin battery for months, if not years, with a truly simple analog design seemed more suitable. User testing this three crown watch face resulted in people intuitively setting three alarms in just a few seconds.

Active was made using 3D modeling, printing and model making tools.

pill pal

PRODUCTA compact pill carrying device that reminds people to take medicines on time, monitors medicine adherence and provides useful data analytics about impact of medicine regimen on health.

SERVICEA companion mobile app creates a social circle comprising of the user's doctor, caregiver, family and friends. This circle of people are now enabled to help the user adhere to their medicine regimen.

STAKEHOLDERSWith such features, this device intends to assist doctors in medical diagnosis, users in managing and understanding their ailment, and friends and family to better support the user.

pill pall was made using 3D modeling, printing, microelectronics and code.